Officials stated that the policy’s primary objective is to protect landowners from distress sales by offering them a secure alternative. Moreover, the policy enables landowners to actively participate in government project planning by contributing land and receiving optimal compensation in return.

The state government had earlier introduced a similar policy to facilitate voluntary land sales for development projects, with the dual aim of preventing distress sales and involving landowners in selecting project sites. Over time, it was felt necessary to make the policy more comprehensive by incorporating incentive mechanisms for aggregators who assist in land aggregation. This included the empanelment of aggregators via an online portal and the issuance of a consolidated policy that supersedes the 2017 version and its subsequent amendments.

Under the new policy, landowners are now permitted to sell their share either partially or fully — an option previously unavailable. Additionally, a provision has been included to ensure a 5-karam-wide access road to the offered land.

To guarantee clear title and ownership, the land must not be classified as ‘shamilat deh’ or ‘mushtarkamalkan’ at any point. The Deputy Commissioner concerned will be responsible for ensuring the reasonableness of land rates.

Facilitation charges for aggregators will be paid at the rate of 1 per cent of the total transaction cost, disbursed in two equal instalments — 0.5 per cent upon deed registration and the remaining 0.5 per cent after the mutation is sanctioned and possession delivered.